But pensioner campaigners last night
savaged his suggestion as “outrageous” and likened it to “National
Service” for senior citizens.

Lord Bichard, who
retired at 54, presented his plan to a Parliamentary committee
investigating the impact of the ageing population.

This amounts to little more than National Service for the over-60s and is absolutely outrageous

Dot Gibson

And
the former head of the Benefits Agency risked intensifying anger by
comparing pensioners to the jobless who don’t try to find work.

“We
are now prepared to say to people...if you don’t look for work you
don’t get benefits, so if you are old and you are not contributing in
some way or another maybe there is some penalty attached to that,” he
said.

He asked fellow peers: “Are there ways in which we could use incentives to encourage older people, if not to be in full-time work, to be making a contribution?

“Are we using all of the incentives at our disposal to encourage older people not just to be a negative burden on the state but actually be a positive part of society?”

The crossbench peer, 65, a former top civil servant at the Education Department, will pursue the idea further as part of his work for the Lords Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change. He told peers on Monday it would be difficult for politicians to sell the plan to voters, but added: “So was tuition fees.”

Leading campaign organisation The National Pensioners Convention yesterday condemned his proposal as “silly and ill-informed”.

Dot Gibson, its general secretary, said: “This amounts to little more than National Service for the over-60s and is absolutely outrageous.

“Those who have paid their National Insurance contributions for 30 or more years are entitled to their state pension and there should be no attempt to put barriers in their way.

“We already have one of the lowest state pensions in Europe and one in five older people live below the poverty line. But the real scandal is that he hasn’t understood the value that pensioners already bring, contributing £40billion extra every year in unpaid volunteering and caring.

“Lord Bichard’s comments are trying to pitch younger people against older people, when the real division in our society is between rich and poor.

“Frankly, Lord Bichard needs to think twice before making such silly and ill-informed remarks.”

Dr Ros Altmann, director-general of over-50s organisation Saga, said: “This is a staggering suggestion. We need to encourage people to work longer but we should be doing that by making work pay, not telling people what they should do.

“It is outrageous to suggest that people who have contributed to National Insurance should contribute more or lose part of their pension.”

And Michelle Mitchell, director-general of the charity Age UK, said: “Older people are a hugely positive part of society – over a third between 65 and 74 volunteer, a percentage that only drops slightly for the over-75s.”

She said a third of working-age parents rely on grandparents to provide unpaid care for their children, saving the state millions of pounds.

Robert Oxley, campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It’s a bit rich from a civil servant who was able to retire early to lecture us on working during retirement.”

But former Treasury adviser Prof James Sefton, of Imperial College, London, told the Lords committee that young people were “subsidising” the older generation. He said: “I think they should be angry. I think the deal they are getting is poor.”

On Monday, the Daily Express revealed nearly 1.5million are working beyond the retirement age of 65.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman last night said the Government had no plans to force pensioners to do community work or impose financial penalties for failing to get involved in voluntary projects.